An Honest-to-Goodness-Letter from Husbands to Wives

Fathers’ Day is coming and we are so sure, being the loving and romantic wife that you are, that you’re cooking up a surprise for us (ahem, ahem). Too many times have wives asked us, “What do you really want?” And so many times we say, We just want to spend time with the family, holding hands with the beautiful wife, look into their eyes, appreciate their surprises, naps on the couch, and taking a leisurely walk in the park.

But yeah, we’re just messing with you. That’s not even remotely close to what we want for Fathers’ Day—although that couch nap seems terribly tempting—as long as you leave us alone.

Over the years, we husbands would like to thank you for the thoughts and wonderful gifts for Fathers’ Day—starting from that bow tie many years ago to the neck tie to a handkerchief to a pair of boxers to some masculine cologne. Even though at times we wonder if we ever dress poorly in your eyes or we smell awful, we still appreciate your thoughts.

So before you rush off to buy us another bow tie and another, “You’re the best Dad ever” mug (in comparison to whom? God?), perhaps, we fathers can give you loving wives a couple of suggestions for what we seriously like this year.

1. A smart phone/ tablet and a fast internet connection. Since you asked, well, here’s the honest truth. If we have some extra cash, yes, I’d like some of that smart phone or tablet with high-speed internet connection. While it may seem like a lot for a gift, it will keep us occupied for a whole period of time. We can even swap apps, if you want. Speaking of which, isn't the Samsung S4 out now? *silly grin*

2. DIY Tools. If there’s something we can’t get enough of, it’s a toolbox full of DIY tools—count how many screwdrivers are in the basement or hammers. We just love to tinker with stuff and try to fix things before we throw them away. So, why not give us some of that?

3. Sport Tickets. We couldn’t get enough of sports so try checking again our favorite sports, check out if there’s a game in the near future and give us a ticket. You can also book some live streaming of ongoing sport matches, if ever the event is not within our area. You can also set up a weekend outing of paintball, followed by laser tag or Go-karts, just to keep our motor skills sharp.

4. Favorite Home-Cooked Meal. If you find our 1-3 suggestions too costly, nothing beats a home-cooked meal. It’s like having an extra birthday for the year! And we always love to see you in the kitchen, all effort to make our grumbling tummies happy.

5. “Get out of Jail” card. Yes, for real. Not just in Monopoly. And it’s just a coy way to say that we just need some guilt-free time off. We are not referring to you as our jail. This just means that the next time we have our boys’ night out to play poker or whatever, we can stay as late as we can with the boys, and the card grants us a NO QUESTIONS ALLOWED pass about where we are, what time we are going home, who’s with us, etc. Yes, we are open to some discussions about this. And we are expecting to lose. But it doesn’t hurt to try, right?

6. Video Games. If you can get us some legendary items in Diablo3, that would be so awesome. But if this gives you a nosebleed, you can just get us the game itself and lock us up with a few chips and beers on the side and we’re good. Oh, and if you can play with us and understand the obsession on video games, that would be sooo cool!

7. Scarlett Johansson. A date with her, maybe? Or just a day to just watch all her films and not get snobs every time we appreciate other actresses’ beauty. In the real world, we could never have them, they wouldn’t know us and it doesn’t hurt to fantasize.

thank you, wifey!

8. Massages. 2hours of massages to untie the knots. Ahh, heaven!

9. Personalized GC’s. What are these? Just simple customized gift certificates entitling us to some awesome privileges like, “You are entitled not to wash the dishes for 3straight days or 5 random days of your choice”. You can also make it like a real GC with an expiration date or redemption guidelines. It’s really cute and simple.

10. Some Me-Time. You wonderful wives CAN make us the happiest on earth on Fathers’ Day and you don’t have to spend a cent or give a single sweat. All you have to do is just give us a day-off. Day-off means just some time alone, doing NOTHING. This means that we can be couch potatoes all day, watching Die Hard or favorite NBA reruns, doze off, drink a few beers and just laze around. No distractions, nothing. We really are not complicated. We just get by with nothing.

There are still a lot, HoneyPie, but I’d rather stick to ten or else it might seem we are pushing ourselves a bit too far. But if you have other ideas, do let us know. We are okay if we are consulted right away, spoiling the surprise. But do give some serious thought on Number 7. Kidding! We do love you very much and maybe this year, we can appreciate Fathers’ Day at a different level!

This says a lot of what I want to tell my wife this Father's Day. But since she already took care of everything for our department's outing, I'll let this year pass and bring these topics again next year.

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